Server network diagnostic system

ABSTRACT

Methods and systems for implementing such methods for providing server fault notifications, diagnostic and system management information may include, but are not limited to: receiving a network fault status request input; illuminating one or more server node fault indicators for one or more degraded server nodes having one or more faults; receiving a server node fault status request input for a degraded server node having one or more faults; and displaying one or more diagnostic service notifications for one or more faults of the degraded server node. 
     The displaying of the diagnostic service notifications may allow for the completion of various service operations associated with the service notifications once the information specific to a fault is presented. Such service operations may include placing a system in standby mode, transferring workloads to other systems, initiating a firmware update, placing the system in a mode that allows for physical maintenance, or ordering parts associated with one or more faults.

BACKGROUND

Server environments may maintain diagnostic systems which may provideinformation regarding a system faults associated with faulty hardware.Such systems may be utilized by service providers to diagnose systemfaults and quickly employ corrective measures.

SUMMARY

Methods and systems for providing server fault notifications areprovided.

A method for providing server fault notifications may include, but isnot limited to: receiving a network fault status request input;illuminating one or more server node fault indicators for one or moredegraded server nodes having one or more faults; receiving a server nodefault status request input for a degraded server node having one or morefaults; and displaying one or more diagnostic service notifications forone or more faults of the degraded server node.

A system for providing server fault notifications may include, but isnot limited to: a fault notification management device including a faultnotification management interface; a network fault status indicator; andone or more server nodes, a server node of the one or more server nodesincluding: a server node fault status indicator, a server node faultcontroller configured to broadcast one or more server node faultnotifications to the fault notification management device.

The displaying of the diagnostic service notifications may allow usersto complete various service operations associated with the servicenotifications once the information specific to a fault is presented andunderstood by the user. Such actions may include placing a system instandby mode, transferring workloads to other systems, initiating afirmware update, placing the system in a mode that allows for physicalmaintenance, or ordering parts associated with one or more faults

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGURE NUMBER:

1 shows a high-level block diagram of a system for providing serverfault notifications.

2 is a high-level logic flowchart of a process.

3 is a high-level logic flowchart of a process.

4 is a high-level logic flowchart of a process.

5 is a high-level logic flowchart of a process.

6 is a high-level logic flowchart of a process.

7 is a high-level logic flowchart of a process.

8 is a high-level logic flowchart of a process.

9 is a high-level logic flowchart of a process.

10 is a high-level logic flowchart of a process.

11 is a high-level logic flowchart of a process.

12 is a high-level logic flowchart of a process.

13 is a high-level logic flowchart of a process.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, reference is made to theaccompanying drawings, which form a part hereof. In the drawings,similar symbols typically identify similar components, unless contextdictates otherwise. The illustrative embodiments described in thedetailed description, drawings, and claims are not meant to be limiting.Other embodiments may be utilized, and other changes may be made,without departing from the spirit or scope of the subject matterpresented here.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example environment in which one or moretechnologies may be implemented. A server fault notification system 100may provide functionality which facilitates the diagnosis and servicingof system faults within multiple-server systems. The server faultnotification system 100 may employ a “touch-of-a-button” mechanism forfault diagnosis and notification. A user (e.g. a system administrator,service professional, and the like) may press a single button associatedwith the server fault notification system 100 and be presented withservice and support information (e.g. detailed error information,service contact information, replacement component part numbers,servicing instructions, online manuals, and the like) regarding one ormore system faults.

Further, in large systems with potentially large numbers of faults,individual server nodes may include a local “touch-of-a-button”mechanism where a user may press a button located on a single servernode and the server fault notification system 100 may display faultinformation associated with that particular node. Activation of thelocal “touch-of-a-button” mechanism may further serve to offload currentwork away from a selected server node in anticipation of servicing.

The server fault notification system 100 may employ a system of lightemitting diode (LED) indicators associated with various hardwarecomponents which are disposed substantially adjacent to those hardwardcomponents. These LEDs may be configured to be illuminated in responseto a detected system fault in an associated hardware component.

Server-based systems may be highly scalable networks requiring varyinglevels of flexibility with regard to the configuration of faultdiagnosis and notification. Smaller implementations may be moreregularly serviced by a customer rather that a trained serviceprofessional. As such, the degree of desired direction to be providedvia the LED indicators may be great. In such an implementation, a moredirected LED-based service system may be appropriate (e.g. the LightPath™ brand of products and services provided by International BusinessMachines). Larger implementations may be more likely to be serviced by atrained service professional. As such, the degree of desired directionto be provided via the LED indicators may be less. In such animplementation, a more generalized LED-based service system may beappropriate (e.g. the Guiding Light™ brand of products and servicesprovided by International Business Machines). In order to facilitatescalability, the server fault notification system 100 may allowcustomization regarding the type of LED diagnostic information that maybe provided so as to permit the selection of a desired LED-based servicemechanism.

Following are various exemplary embodiments of the server faultnotification system 100 as depicted in FIG. 1. The server faultnotification system 100 may include one or more server banks 101 and oneor more fault notification management devices 102 (e.g. faultnotification management devices 102A-102D).

The fault notification management devices 102 may include one or moreintegrated fault notification management devices 102A/102B. Theintegrated fault notification management devices 102A/102B may includedevices which are resident within server banks 101 or configured to becoupled to the server banks 101 (e.g. a pluggable device).

The fault notification management devices 102 may include one or moreone or more networked fault notification management devices 102C. Thenetworked fault notification management devices 102C may include deviceswhich are remote with respect to server banks 101 and operably coupledto the server banks 101 via a network connection.

The fault notification management devices 102 may include one or moreone or more mobile fault notification management devices 102D. Themobile fault notification management devices 102D may be wirelessdevices such as PDAs, mobile phones (e.g. an iPhone® device, aBlackBerry® device, a Palm® device), wireless laptop computers, and thelike.

The fault notification management devices 102 may include a faultnotification interface 102-1. A fault notification interface 102-1 mayinclude multimedia components such as a display monitor, audio speakers,LEDs and the like so as to provide system fault information to a serviceprovider. The fault notification management devices 102 may include afault notification controller 102-2. The fault notification controller102-2 may include various processing logic and memory componentsconfigured to detect various user inputs and system fault instances andprovide diagnostic information to a service provider via the faultnotification interface 102-1. The fault notification management devices102 may include one or more network fault status indicators 102-3. Thenetwork fault status indicators 102-3 may be push-button LEDs ortouch-screen icons which may be illuminated in response to a detectionof a system fault by the fault notification controller 102-2.

The server banks 101 may include one more server nodes 103 (e.g. servernodes 103A and 103B). The server nodes 103 may include hardwarecomponents employing one or more instruction sets including, but notlimited to, x86 based hardware components, PowerPC based hardwarecomponents, and the like. Such server nodes 103 may include variousmodels of blade-type server components. The server nodes 103 may includeone or more server node fault controllers 103-1. The server node faultcontrollers 103-1 may include various processing logic and memorycomponents configured to detect various fault instances resulting fromfaults in server node hardware components 103-2 (e.g. memory,processors, power management, and the like). The server node faultcontrollers 103-1 may broadcast fault information back to one or morefault notification management devices 102.

The server nodes 103 may include one or more server node fault statusindicators 103-3. The server node fault status indicators 103-3 may bepush-button LEDs or touch-screen icons which may be illuminated inresponse to a detection of a system fault in one or more server nodehardware components 103-2 of a server node 103 by the fault notificationcontroller 102-2. The server node fault status indicators 103-3 may bedisposed on an exterior surface of a chassis of the server nodes 103 soas to present a readily observable indicator that one or more servernode hardware components 103-2 within a particular server node 103 mayhave a fault.

The server nodes 103 may include one or more server node hardwarecomponent fault status indicators 103-4. The server node hardwarecomponent fault status indicators 103-4 may be LEDs or display iconswhich may be illuminated in response to a detection of a system fault ina particular server node hardware component 103-2. The server nodehardware component fault status indicators 103-4 may be operably coupledto or in proximity to a particular server node hardware component 103-2with which it is associated. Such server node hardware component faultstatus indicators 103-4 may be part of directed-servicing systemconfigured to sequentially illuminate various indicators to directservicing personnel to a faulty hardware component. Suchdirected-servicing systems may include the Light Path™ and GuidingLight™ brand of products and services provided by International BusinessMachines.

Following are a series of flowcharts depicting implementations. For easeof understanding, the flowcharts are organized such that the initialflowcharts present implementations via an example implementation andthereafter the following flowcharts present alternate implementationsand/or expansions of the initial flowchart(s) as either sub-componentoperations or additional component operations building on one or moreearlier-presented flowcharts. Those having skill in the art willappreciate that the style of presentation utilized herein (e.g.,beginning with a presentation of a flowchart(s) presenting an exampleimplementation and thereafter providing additions to and/or furtherdetails in subsequent flowcharts) generally allows for a rapid and easyunderstanding of the various process implementations. In addition, thoseskilled in the art will further appreciate that the style ofpresentation used herein also lends itself well to modular and/orobject-oriented program design paradigms.

FIG. 2 illustrates an operational flow 200 representing exampleoperations related to providing server fault notifications. In FIG. 2and in following figures that include various examples of operationalflows, discussion and explanation may be provided with respect to theabove-described examples of FIG. 1, and/or with respect to otherexamples and contexts. However, it should be understood that theoperational flows may be executed in a number of other environments andcontexts, and/or in modified versions of FIG. 1. Also, although thevarious operational flows are presented in the sequence(s) illustrated,it should be understood that the various operations may be performed inother orders than those that are illustrated, or may be performedconcurrently.

Operation 210 depicts receiving a network fault status request input.For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the fault notification controller 102-2of one or more fault notification management devices 102 may receive oneor more fault notifications from the one or more server node faultcontrollers 103-1 indicating the existence of one or more faults in oneor more server nodes 103 within the one or more server banks 101. Uponreceiving the fault notifications, the fault notification controller102-2 may cause an LED or display icon associated with the network faultstatus indicators 102-3 to illuminate to notify a user of the faultconditions. Upon notification, a user may provide an input requestingadditional fault status information regarding the fault conditions.

Operation 220 depicts illuminating one or more server node faultindicators for one or more degraded server nodes having one or morefaults. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, upon receiving a network faultstatus request input from a user, the fault notification controller102-2 of one or more fault notification management devices 102 may causethe server node fault status indicators 103-3 associated with individualserver nodes 103 having detected faults to be illuminated (e.g. servernode fault status indicator 103-3′ of server node 103A′) so as to notifya user of those particular server nodes 103 having detected faults.

Operation 230 depicts receiving a server node fault status request inputfor a degraded server node having one or more faults. For example, asshown in FIG. 1, upon notification of particular server nodes 103 havingdetected faults (i.e. a degraded server), a user may provide an inputrequesting additional fault status information regarding the faultconditions of a particular server node 103 (e.g. server node 103A′).

Operation 240 depicts displaying one or more diagnostic servicenotifications for one or more faults of the degraded server node. Forexample, as shown in FIG. 1, upon receiving a server node fault statusrequest input for a degraded server node having one or more faults, thefault notification controller 102-2 of one or more fault notificationmanagement devices 102 may cause the fault notification interface 102-1of the fault notification management devices 102 to present diagnosticinformation regarding the faults in a selected server node 103 (e.g.server node 103A′) to the user. For example, the fault notificationinterface 102-1 may provide detailed error information, service contactinformation, replacement component part numbers, servicing instructions,online manuals, and the like.

The display of the diagnostic service notifications may allow user tocomplete various service operations associated with the servicenotifications once the information specific to a fault is presented andunderstood by the user. Such actions may include placing a system instandby mode, transferring workloads to other systems, initiating afirmware update, placing the system in a mode that allows for physicalmaintenance, or ordering parts associated with one or more faults

FIG. 3 illustrates alternative embodiments of the example operationalflow 200 of FIG. 2. FIG. 3 illustrates example embodiments where theoperational flow 200 may include at least one additional operation.Additional operations may include operation 302 and/or operation 304.

Operation 302 depicts an embodiment where the receiving a network faultstatus request input of Operation 210 includes detecting a touch of anetwork fault indicator. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the faultnotification controller 102-2 of one or more fault notificationmanagement devices 102 may receive one or more fault notifications fromthe one or more server node fault controllers 103-1 indicating theexistence of one or more faults in one or more server nodes 103 withinthe one or more server banks 101. The network fault status indicators102-3 may include LED touch-buttons and/or touch-screen icons. Uponreceiving the fault notifications, the fault notification controller102-2 may cause the LED touch-button or touch-screen icon to illuminateto notify a user of the fault conditions. Upon notification, a user mayphysically press the LED touch-buttons and/or touch-screen icons of thenetwork fault status indicators 102-3 to request additional fault statusinformation regarding the fault conditions. The fault notificationcontroller 102-2 may detect a signal associated with the physicaldepression of the LED touch-buttons and/or touch-screen icons of thenetwork fault status indicators 102-3 indicative of a user making anetwork fault status request.

Operation 304 depicts an embodiment where receiving a server node faultstatus request input for a degraded server node having one or morefaults of Operation 230 may include detecting a touch of a server nodefault indicator. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the server node faultstatus indicators 103-3 may include LED touch-buttons and/ortouch-screen icons. Upon receiving a network fault status request input,the fault notification controller 102-2 may cause the LED touch-buttonor touch-screen icon to illuminate to notify a user of the faultconditions within a particular server node 103 (e.g. server node 103A′).Upon notification of particular server nodes 103 having detected faults(i.e. a degraded server), a user may physically press the LEDtouch-buttons and/or touch-screen icons of the network fault statusindicators 102-3 to request additional fault status informationregarding the fault conditions. The fault notification controller 102-2may detect a signal associated with the physical depression of the LEDtouch-buttons and/or touch-screen icons of the server node fault statusindicators 103-3 indicative of a user making a server node fault statusrequest.

FIG. 4 illustrates alternative embodiments of the example operationalflow 200 of FIG. 2. FIG. 4 illustrates example embodiments where theoperation 200 may include at least one additional operation. Additionaloperations may include operation 402.

Operation 402 depicts receiving a selection of a fault of a degradedserver node. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, upon receiving a servernode fault status request input for a degraded server node having one ormore faults, the fault notification controller 102-2 may display one ormore diagnostic service notifications for the one or more faults of thedegraded server node on the fault notification interface 102-1 of thefault notification management devices 102 (e.g. displaying messageslisting multiple faults in a degraded server node 103A′ on atouch-screen fault notification interface 102-1). A user may select oneor more of the displayed faults in order to obtain additional detailsregarding those faults. For example, the user may press a display iconassociated with a particular fault as displayed on a touch-screen faultnotification interface 102-1 and the fault notification controller 102-2may cause the fault notification interface 102-1 to display additionalinformation to the user regarding the selected fault.

FIG. 5 illustrates alternative embodiments of the example operationalflow 200 of FIG. 2. FIG. 5 illustrates example embodiments where theoperational flow 200 may include at least one additional operation.Additional operations may include operation 502, and/or an operation504, and/or an operation 506.

Operation 502 depicts providing a user-assistance according to aselection of a fault of a degraded server. For example, as shown in FIG.1, a user may select one or more faults displayed on a faultnotification interface 102-1 in order to obtain additional detailsregarding those faults. Those additional details may include informationwhich may assist the user in servicing the selected faults. Theuser-assistance information may be presented via the fault notificationinterface 102-1.

Operation 504 depicts an embodiment where providing a user-assistanceaccording to a selection of a fault of a degraded server of Operation502 may include providing an instructional assistance. For example, asshown in FIG. 1, information may be presented to a user via the faultnotification interface 102-1 instructing the user regarding servicingprocedures associated with a selected fault. For example, theinstructional assistance may provide information regarding accessingserver banks 101, location and removal of a faulty server node hardwarecomponent 103-2′, and the like.

Operation 506 depicts an embodiment where providing a user-assistanceaccording to a selection of a fault of a degraded server of Operation502 may include providing a communications interface. For example, asshown in FIG. 1, the fault notification interface 102-1 may present acommunications interface to a user. The communications interface mayinclude a VoIP interface, an instant messaging interface, a videoconference interface, an e-mail interface, and the like. Thecommunications interface may be operably connected to a dedicatedsupport network (e.g. a service center 104) or an external network (e.g.the Internet 105) so as to allow a user to access servicing informationfrom the networks.

Operation 508 depicts an embodiment where providing a user-assistanceaccording to a selection of a fault of a degraded server of Operation502 may include providing a component replacement interface. Forexample, as shown in FIG. 1, the fault notification interface 102-1 maypresent a component replacement interface. The component replacementinterface may include a web application connecting to a supplier via anetwork (e.g. the Internet 105) to facilitate the ordering ofreplacements for various components (e.g. replaceable server nodehardware components 103-2 such as memory elements, processors, powermanagement, associated software/firmware, and the like). The componentreplacement interface may include a listing of components which may berequired to be replaced in the course of servicing a particular selectedfault (e.g. a selected fault associated with a memory server nodehardware component 103-2′ may result in the presentation of a webapplication for ordering that specific component from a vendor known tocarry that component).

FIG. 6 illustrates alternative embodiments of the example operationalflow 200 of FIG. 5. FIG. 6 illustrates example embodiments where theoperation 508 may include at least one additional operation. Additionaloperations may include operation 602 and/or an operation 604.

Operation 602 depicts an embodiment where the providing a componentreplacement interface of Operation 508 may include receiving areplacement component order associated with a selected fault. Forexample, as shown in FIG. 1, the fault notification interface 102-1 maypresent a component replacement interface. The component replacementinterface may include a web application connecting to a supplier via anetwork (e.g. the Internet 105). The component replacement interface maydisplay a listing of replacement components associated with a selectedfault that may be available from one or more parts suppliers. The partsreplacement interface may allow a user to select a particularreplacement part and place an order for that part with the supplier. Thefault notification controller 102-2 may detect a signal associated witha user input (e.g. depression of a keyboard key, mouse key, touch screenpanel, etc.) indicative of a user making selection of a particularreplacement components associated with a selected fault.

Operation 604 depicts an embodiment where the providing a componentreplacement interface of Operation 508 may include providing orderstatus information associated with a replacement component order. Forexample, as shown in FIG. 1, the fault notification interface 102-1 maypresent a component replacement interface. The component replacementinterface may include a web application connecting to a componentsupplier via a network (e.g. the Internet 105). The componentreplacement interface may display a listing of replacement componentspreviously ordered via the component replacement interface and thestatus (e.g. pending, filled, shipped, date ordered, etc.) of thoseorders.

Operation 606 depicts an embodiment where the providing order statusinformation associated with a replacement component order of operation604 may include providing delivery status information associated withthe replacement component order. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, thefault notification interface 102-1 may present a component replacementinterface. The component replacement interface may include a webapplication connecting to a supplier via a network (e.g. the Internet105). The component replacement interface may display a listing ofreplacement components previously ordered via the component replacementinterface and the delivery status (e.g. estimated shipping date, dateshipped from supplier, shipping routing information, estimated deliverydate, current shipment location, etc.) of those orders.

FIG. 7 illustrates alternative embodiments of the example operationalflow 200 of FIG. 4. FIG. 7 illustrates example embodiments where theoperation 404 may include at least one additional operation. Additionaloperations may include operation 702, and/or an operation 704.

Operation 702 depicts an embodiment where providing a user-assistanceaccording to a selection of a fault of a degraded server of Operation404 may include illuminating one or more LED indicators associated witha selected fault. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, upon selection by auser of a particular fault of associated with a server node hardwarecomponent 103-2′, one or more server node hardware component faultstatus indicators 103-4′ associated with the faulty server node hardwarecomponent 103-2′ may be illuminated. The server node hardware componentfault status indicators 103-4′ may be a component of a LED-baseddirected servicing diagnostic system (e.g. the Light Path™ and GuidingLight™ brand of products and services provided by International BusinessMachines).

Operation 704 depicts an embodiment where illuminating one or more LEDindicators associated with a selected fault of Operation 702 may includeilluminating one or more LED indicators associated with a selected faultaccording to a user-selected LED illumination configuration. Forexample, the fault notification interface 102-1 of the faultnotification management devices 102 may provide a user interfaceallowing a user to select between multiple LED-based directed servicingmechanisms. For example, a user may select between using the Light Path™and Guiding Light™ brand of products and services provided byInternational Business Machines. Following the selection, the servernode hardware component fault status indicators 103-4′ associated withthe selected LED-based directed servicing mechanism may be illuminatedupon the selection of a particular faulty server node hardware component103-2′.

FIG. 8 illustrates alternative embodiments of the example operationalflow 200 of FIG. 2. FIG. 8 illustrates example embodiments where theoperational flow 200 may include at least one additional operation.Additional operations may include operation 802, and/or an operation804.

Operation 802 depicts receiving a selection of a diagnostic servicenotification filter parameter. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, upondisplaying one or more diagnostic service notifications for one or morefaults of the degraded server node, a user may filter the notificationresults to isolate particular faults. The fault notification interface102-1 of the fault notification management devices 102 may provide auser interface allowing a user to select or input a diagnostic servicenotification filter parameter to reduce the number of displayed servicenotifications to only those having a particular characteristiccorresponding to the filter parameter.

Operation 804 depicts an embodiment where receiving a selection of adiagnostic service notification filter parameter of Operation 802 mayinclude receiving a hardware component-based diagnostic servicenotification filter parameter. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, thefault notification interface 102-1 of the fault notification managementdevices 102 may provide a user interface allowing a user to select orinput a hardware component filter parameter such that the faultnotification interface 102-1 will display only those diagnostic servicenotifications associated with particular server node hardware components103-2 (e.g. only memory components, only processing components, onlypower supply components, and the like) having the characteristiccorresponding to the hardware component filter parameter.

Operation 806 depicts an embodiment where receiving a selection of adiagnostic service notification filter parameter of Operation 802 mayinclude receiving a server node-based diagnostic service notificationfilter parameter. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the faultnotification interface 102-1 of the fault notification managementdevices 102 may provide a user interface allowing a user to select orinput a server node filter parameter such that the fault notificationinterface 102-1 will display only those diagnostic service notificationsassociated with particular server node 103 (e.g. degraded server node103A′).

Operation 808 depicts an embodiment where receiving a selection of adiagnostic service notification filter parameter of Operation 802 mayinclude receiving a server application-based diagnostic servicenotification filter parameter. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, thefault notification interface 102-1 of the fault notification managementdevices 102 may provide a user interface allowing a user to select orinput a server application filter parameter such that the faultnotification interface 102-1 will display only those diagnostic servicenotifications associated with server banks 101 and/or server nodes 103running particular software and/or firmware applications.

Operation 810 depicts an embodiment where receiving a selection of adiagnostic service notification filter parameter of Operation 802 mayinclude receiving a server type-based diagnostic service notificationfilter parameter. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the faultnotification interface 102-1 of the fault notification managementdevices 102 may provide a user interface allowing a user to select orinput a server type filter parameter such that the fault notificationinterface 102-1 will display only those diagnostic service notificationsassociated with server banks 101 and/or server nodes 103 containingparticular server types (e.g. displaying only service notifications forthose servers employing x86 based hardware components, displaying onlyservice notifications for those servers employing PowerPC based hardwarecomponents, displaying only service notifications for a particular modelof blade-type server components, and the like).

FIG. 9 illustrates an operational flow 900 representing exampleoperations related to providing server fault notifications. In FIG. 9and in following figures that include various examples of operationalflows, discussion and explanation may be provided with respect to theabove-described examples of FIG. 1, and/or with respect to otherexamples and contexts. However, it should be understood that theoperational flows may be executed in a number of other environments andcontexts, and/or in modified versions of FIG. 1. Also, although thevarious operational flows are presented in the sequence(s) illustrated,it should be understood that the various operations may be performed inother orders than those that are illustrated, or may be performedconcurrently.

Operation 910 depicts receiving a selection of a light-emitting diode(LED)-based directed servicing mechanism. For example, as shown in FIG.1, the fault notification management devices 102 may provide a userinterface allowing a user to select a mechanism by which the serverfault notification system 100 may provide LED-based directed servicingassistance. A user may select an LED-based directed servicing mechanismwhich corresponds to their particular network implementation. Forexample, smaller implementations may be more regularly serviced by acustomer rather that a trained service professional. As such, the degreeof desired direction to be provided via the LED indicators may be great.In such an implementation, a user may select a highly directed LED-basedservice mechanism may be appropriate (e.g. the Light Path™ brand ofproducts and services provided by International Business Machines).Larger implementations may be more likely to be serviced by a trainedservice professional. As such, the degree of desired direction to beprovided via the LED indicators may be less. In such an implementation,a more generalized LED-based service system may be selected (e.g. theGuiding Light™ brand of products and services provided by InternationalBusiness Machines).

Operation 920 depicts receiving a network fault status request input.For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the fault notification controller 102-2of one or more fault notification management devices 102 may receive oneor more fault notifications from the one or more server node faultcontrollers 103-1 indicating the existence of one or more faults in oneor more server nodes 103 within the one or more server banks 101. Uponreceiving the fault notifications, the fault notification controller102-2 may cause an LED button or touch-screen display icon associatedwith the network fault status indicators 102-3 to illuminate to notify auser of the fault conditions. Upon notification, a user may provide aninput (e.g. pressing the LED button or touch-screen) requestingadditional fault status information regarding the fault conditions (e.g.LED-based directed servicing assistance, fault-specific supportinformation, and the like).

Operation 930 depicts illuminating one or more LEDs associated with oneor more system components having one or more faults according to theselection of the LED-based directed servicing mechanism and networkfault data. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, upon receiving a selectionof a light-emitting diode (LED)-based directed servicing mechanism and anetwork fault status request input from a user, the fault notificationcontroller 102-2 of one or more fault notification management devices102 may cause the server node fault status indicators 103-3 associatedwith individual server nodes 103 having detected faults to beilluminated (e.g. server node fault status indicator 103-3′ of servernode 103A′) so as to notify a user of those particular server nodes 103having detected faults. The server node fault status indicators 103-3may be illuminated according to the selected LED-based directedservicing mechanism (e.g. according to a highly directed LED-basedservice mechanism such as the Light Path™ brand of products and servicesprovided by International Business Machines or a more generalizedLED-based service such as the Guiding Light™ brand of products andservices provided by International Business Machines. The one or moreLEDs may be illuminated in a sequence corresponding to a path associatedwith locating the one or more components having one or more faults (e.g.as in the Light Path™ or Guiding Light™ brand of products).

Operation 940 depicts displaying one or more diagnostic servicenotifications for one or more faults of the degraded server node. Forexample, as shown in FIG. 1, upon receiving a server node fault statusrequest input for a degraded server node having one or more faults, thefault notification controller 102-2 of one or more fault notificationmanagement devices 102 may cause the fault notification interface 102-1of the fault notification management devices 102 to present diagnosticinformation regarding the faults in a selected server node 103 (e.g.server node 103A′) to the user. For example, the fault notificationinterface 102-1 may provide detailed error information, service contactinformation, replacement component part numbers, servicing instructions,online manuals, and the like.

FIG. 10 illustrates alternative embodiments of the example operationalflow 900 of FIG. 9. FIG. 10 illustrates example embodiments where theoperation 930 of operational flow 900 may include at least oneadditional operation. Additional operations may include operation 1002.

Operation 1002 depicts illuminating one or more LEDs in a sequencecorresponding to a path associated with locating the one or morecomponents having one or more faults. For example, as shown in FIG. 1,upon receiving a selection of a light-emitting diode (LED)-baseddirected servicing mechanism and a network fault status request inputfrom a user, the fault notification controller 102-2 of one or morefault notification management devices 102 may cause the server nodefault status indicators 103-3 associated with individual server nodes103 having detected faults to be illuminated (e.g. server node faultstatus indicator 103-3′ of server node 103A′) so as to notify a user ofthose particular server nodes 103 having detected faults. The servernode fault status indicators 103-3 may be illuminated in a sequencecorresponding to a path associated with locating the one or morecomponents having one or more faults (e.g. as in the Light Path™ orGuiding Light™ brand of products).

FIG. 11 illustrates alternative embodiments of the example operationalflow 900 of FIG. 9. FIG. 11 illustrates example embodiments where theoperational flow 900 may include at least one additional operation.Additional operations may include operation 1102.

Operation 1102 depicts receiving a selection of a fault of a degradedserver node. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, upon receiving a servernode fault status request input for a degraded server node having one ormore faults, the fault notification controller 102-2 may display one ormore diagnostic service notifications for the one or more faults of thedegraded server node on the fault notification interface 102-1 of thefault notification management devices 102 (e.g. displaying messageslisting multiple faults in a degraded server node 103A′ on atouch-screen fault notification interface 102-1). A user may select oneor more of the displayed faults in order to obtain additional detailsregarding those faults. For example, the user may press a display iconassociated with a particular fault as displayed on a touch-screen faultnotification interface 102-1 and the fault notification controller 102-2may cause the fault notification interface 102-1 to display additionalinformation to the user regarding the selected fault.

FIG. 12 illustrates alternative embodiments of the example operationalflow 900 of FIG. 9. FIG. 12 illustrates example embodiments where theoperational flow 900 may include at least one additional operation.Additional operations may include operation 1202.

Operation 1202 depicts providing a user-assistance according to aselection of a fault of a degraded server. For example, as shown in FIG.1, a user may select one or more faults displayed on a faultnotification interface 102-1 in order to obtain additional detailsregarding those faults. Those additional details may include informationwhich may assist the user in servicing the selected faults. Theuser-assistance information may be presented via the fault notificationinterface 102-1. The user-assistance may include an instructionalassistance (e.g. servicing instructions) or the provision of acommunications interface for obtaining servicing support or componentreplacement services.

FIG. 13 illustrates alternative embodiments of the example operationalflow 900 of FIG. 9. FIG. 13 illustrates example embodiments where theoperational flow 900 may include at least one additional operation.Additional operations may include operation 1302.

Operation 1302 depicts receiving a selection of a diagnostic servicenotification filter parameter. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, upondisplaying one or more diagnostic service notifications for one or morefaults of the degraded server node, a user may filter the notificationresults to isolate particular faults. The fault notification interface102-1 of the fault notification management devices 102 may provide auser interface allowing a user to select or input a diagnostic servicenotification filter parameter to reduce the number of displayed servicenotifications to only those having a particular characteristiccorresponding to the filter parameter. For example, a selecteddiagnostic service parameter may cause the fault notification interface102-1 to only display fault notifications regarding a particularhardware component, server node, server application, server type, andthe like.

All of the above U.S. patents, U.S. patent application publications,U.S. patent applications, foreign patents, foreign patent applicationsand non-patent publications referred to in this specification and/orlisted in any Application Data Sheet, are incorporated herein byreference, to the extent not inconsistent herewith.

Those having skill in the art will recognize that the state of the arthas progressed to the point where there is little distinction leftbetween hardware, software, and/or firmware implementations of aspectsof systems; the use of hardware, software, and/or firmware is generally(but not always, in that in certain contexts the choice between hardwareand software can become significant) a design choice representing costvs. efficiency tradeoffs. Those having skill in the art will appreciatethat there are various vehicles by which processes and/or systems and/orother technologies described herein can be effected (e.g., hardware,software, and/or firmware), and that the preferred vehicle will varywith the context in which the processes and/or systems and/or othertechnologies are deployed. For example, if an implementer determinesthat speed and accuracy are paramount, the implementer may opt for amainly hardware and/or firmware vehicle; alternatively, if flexibilityis paramount, the implementer may opt for a mainly softwareimplementation; or, yet again alternatively, the implementer may opt forsome combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware. Hence, thereare several possible vehicles by which the processes and/or devicesand/or other technologies described herein may be effected, none ofwhich is inherently superior to the other in that any vehicle to beutilized is a choice dependent upon the context in which the vehiclewill be deployed and the specific concerns (e.g., speed, flexibility, orpredictability) of the implementer, any of which may vary. Those skilledin the art will recognize that optical aspects of implementations willtypically employ optically-oriented hardware, software, and or firmware.

In some implementations described herein, logic and similarimplementations may include software or other control structures.Electronic circuitry, for example, may have one or more paths ofelectrical current constructed and arranged to implement variousfunctions as described herein. In some implementations, one or moremedia may be configured to bear a device-detectable implementation whensuch media hold or transmit a device detectable instructions operable toperform as described herein. In some variants, for example,implementations may include an update or modification of existingsoftware or firmware, or of gate arrays or programmable hardware, suchas by performing a reception of or a transmission of one or moreinstructions in relation to one or more operations described herein.Alternatively or additionally, in some variants, an implementation mayinclude special-purpose hardware, software, firmware components, and/orgeneral-purpose components executing or otherwise invokingspecial-purpose components. Specifications or other implementations maybe transmitted by one or more instances of tangible transmission mediaas described herein, optionally by packet transmission or otherwise bypassing through distributed media at various times.

Alternatively or additionally, implementations may include executing aspecial-purpose instruction sequence or invoking circuitry for enabling,triggering, coordinating, requesting, or otherwise causing one or moreoccurrences of virtually any functional operations described herein. Insome variants, operational or other logical descriptions herein may beexpressed as source code and compiled or otherwise invoked as anexecutable instruction sequence. In some contexts, for example,implementations may be provided, in whole or in part, by source code,such as C++, or other code sequences. In other implementations, sourceor other code implementation, using commercially available and/ortechniques in the art, may be compiled/implemented/translated/convertedinto high-level descriptor languages (e.g., initially implementingdescribed technologies in C or C++ programming language and thereafterconverting the programming language implementation into alogic-synthesizable language implementation, a hardware descriptionlanguage implementation, a hardware design simulation implementation,and/or other such similar mode(s) of expression). For example, some orall of a logical expression (e.g., computer programming languageimplementation) may be manifested as a Verilog-type hardware description(e.g., via Hardware Description Language (HDL) and/or Very High SpeedIntegrated Circuit Hardware Descriptor Language (VHDL)) or othercircuitry model which may then be used to create a physicalimplementation having hardware (e.g., an Application Specific IntegratedCircuit). Those skilled in the art will recognize how to obtain,configure, and optimize suitable transmission or computational elements,material supplies, actuators, or other structures in light of theseteachings.

The foregoing detailed description has set forth various embodiments ofthe devices and/or processes via the use of block diagrams, flowcharts,and/or examples. Insofar as such block diagrams, flowcharts, and/orexamples contain one or more functions and/or operations, it will beunderstood by those within the art that each function and/or operationwithin such block diagrams, flowcharts, or examples can be implemented,individually and/or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software,firmware, or virtually any combination thereof. In one embodiment,several portions of the subject matter described herein may beimplemented via Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), FieldProgrammable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), digital signal processors (DSPs), orother integrated formats. However, those skilled in the art willrecognize that some aspects of the embodiments disclosed herein, inwhole or in part, can be equivalently implemented in integratedcircuits, as one or more computer programs running on one or morecomputers (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more computersystems), as one or more programs running on one or more processors(e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more microprocessors),as firmware, or as virtually any combination thereof, and that designingthe circuitry and/or writing the code for the software and or firmwarewould be well within the skill of one of skill in the art in light ofthis disclosure. In addition, those skilled in the art will appreciatethat the mechanisms of the subject matter described herein are capableof being distributed as a program product in a variety of forms, andthat an illustrative embodiment of the subject matter described hereinapplies regardless of the particular type of signal bearing medium usedto actually carry out the distribution. Examples of a signal bearingmedium include, but are not limited to, the following: a recordable typemedium such as a floppy disk, a hard disk drive, a Compact Disc (CD), aDigital Video Disk (DVD), a digital tape, a computer memory, a solidstate storage device (e.g. a USB drive), etc.; and a transmission typemedium such as a digital and/or an analog communication medium (e.g., afiber optic cable, a waveguide, a wired communications link, a wirelesscommunication link (e.g., transmitter, transceiver, transmission logic,reception logic, etc.).

In a general sense, those skilled in the art will recognize that thevarious aspects described herein which can be implemented, individuallyand/or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software, firmware,and/or any combination thereof can be viewed as being composed ofvarious types of “electrical circuitry.” Consequently, as used herein“electrical circuitry” includes, but is not limited to, electricalcircuitry having at least one discrete electrical circuit, electricalcircuitry having at least one integrated circuit, electrical circuitryhaving at least one application specific integrated circuit, electricalcircuitry forming a general purpose computing device configured by acomputer program (e.g., a general purpose computer configured by acomputer program which at least partially carries out processes and/ordevices described herein, or a microprocessor configured by a computerprogram which at least partially carries out processes and/or devicesdescribed herein), electrical circuitry forming a memory device (e.g.,forms of memory (e.g., random access, flash, read only, etc.)), and/orelectrical circuitry forming a communications device (e.g., a modem,communications switch, optical-electrical equipment, etc.). Those havingskill in the art will recognize that the subject matter described hereinmay be implemented in an analog or digital fashion or some combinationthereof.

With respect to the use of substantially any plural and/or singularterms herein, those having skill in the art can translate from theplural to the singular and/or from the singular to the plural as isappropriate to the context and/or application. The varioussingular/plural permutations are not expressly set forth herein for sakeof clarity.

The herein described subject matter sometimes illustrates differentcomponents contained within, or connected with, different othercomponents. It is to be understood that such depicted architectures aremerely exemplary, and that in fact many other architectures may beimplemented which achieve the same functionality. In a conceptual sense,any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality iseffectively “associated” such that the desired functionality isachieved. Hence, any two components herein combined to achieve aparticular functionality can be seen as “associated with” each othersuch that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective ofarchitectures or intermedial components. Likewise, any two components soassociated can also be viewed as being “operably connected”, or“operably coupled”, to each other to achieve the desired functionality,and any two components capable of being so associated can also be viewedas being “operably couplable”, to each other to achieve the desiredfunctionality. Specific examples of operably couplable include but arenot limited to physically mateable and/or physically interactingcomponents, and/or wirelessly interactable, and/or wirelesslyinteracting components, and/or logically interacting, and/or logicallyinteractable components.

In some instances, one or more components may be referred to herein as“configured to,” “configured by,” “configurable to,” “operable/operativeto,” “adapted/adaptable,” “able to,” “conformable/conformed to,” etc.Those skilled in the art will recognize that such terms (e.g.“configured to”) can generally encompass active-state components and/orinactive-state components and/or standby-state components, unlesscontext requires otherwise.

While particular aspects of the present subject matter described hereinhave been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled inthe art that, based upon the teachings herein, changes and modificationsmay be made without departing from the subject matter described hereinand its broader aspects and, therefore, the appended claims are toencompass within their scope all such changes and modifications as arewithin the true spirit and scope of the subject matter described herein.

It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, termsused herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of theappended claims) are generally intended as “open” terms (e.g., the term“including” should be interpreted as “including but not limited to,” theterm “having” should be interpreted as “having at least,” the term“includes” should be interpreted as “includes but is not limited to,”etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if aspecific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such anintent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence ofsuch recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid tounderstanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of theintroductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claimrecitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed toimply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinitearticles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containing suchintroduced claim recitation to claims containing only one suchrecitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases“one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or“an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an” should typically be interpreted to mean “atleast one” or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use ofdefinite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, evenif a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitlyrecited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitationshould typically be interpreted to mean at least the recited number(e.g., the bare recitation of “two recitations,” without othermodifiers, typically means at least two recitations, or two or morerecitations). Furthermore, in those instances where a conventionanalogous to “at least one of A, B, and C, etc.” is used, in generalsuch a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the artwould understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one ofA, B, and C” would include but not be limited to systems that have Aalone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and Ctogether, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). In those instances where aconvention analogous to “at least one of A, B, or C, etc.” is used, ingeneral such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill inthe art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at leastone of A, B, or C” would include but not be limited to systems that haveA alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and Ctogether, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). It will be furtherunderstood by those within the art that typically a disjunctive wordand/or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in thedescription, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplatethe possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, orboth terms. For example, the phrase “A or B” will be typicallyunderstood to include the possibilities of “A” or “B” or “A and B.”

With respect to the appended claims, those skilled in the art willappreciate that recited operations therein may generally be performed inany order. Also, although various operational flows are presented in asequence(s), it should be understood that the various operations may beperformed in other orders than those that are illustrated, or may beperformed concurrently. Examples of such alternate orderings may includeoverlapping, interleaved, interrupted, reordered, incremental,preparatory, supplemental, simultaneous, reverse, or other variantorderings, unless context dictates otherwise. Furthermore, terms like“responsive to,” “related to” or other past-tense adjectives aregenerally not intended to exclude such variants, unless context dictatesotherwise.

Although specific dependencies have been identified in the claims, it isto be noted that all possible combinations of the features of the claimsare envisaged in the present application, and therefore the claims areto be interpreted to include all possible multiple dependencies. It isbelieved that the present disclosure and many of its attendantadvantages will be understood by the foregoing description, and it willbe apparent that various changes may be made in the form, constructionand arrangement of the components without departing from the disclosedsubject matter or without sacrificing all of its material advantages.The form described is merely explanatory, and it is the intention of thefollowing claims to encompass and include such changes.

1. A method for providing server fault notifications server faultnotifications, diagnostic and system management information comprising:receiving a network fault status request input; illuminating one or moreserver node fault indicators for one or more degraded server nodeshaving one or more faults; receiving a server node fault status requestinput for a degraded server node having one or more faults; anddisplaying one or more diagnostic service notifications for one or morefaults of the degraded server node.
 2. The method of claim 1, whereinthe receiving a network fault status request input comprises: detectinga touch of a network fault indicator.
 3. The method of claim 1, whereinthe receiving a server node fault status request input for a degradedserver node having one or more faults comprises: detecting a touch of aserver node fault indicator.
 4. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: receiving a selection of a fault of a degraded server node.5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: providing auser-assistance according to a selection of a fault of a degradedserver.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the providing auser-assistance according to a selection of a fault of a degraded servercomprises: providing an instructional assistance.
 7. The method of claim5, wherein the providing a user-assistance according to a selection of afault of a degraded server comprises: providing a communicationsinterface.
 8. The method of claim 5, wherein the providing auser-assistance according to a selection of a fault of a degraded servercomprises: providing a component replacement interface.
 9. The method ofclaim 8, further comprising: receiving a replacement component orderassociated with a selected fault.
 10. The method of claim 8, wherein theproviding a user-assistance according to a selection of a fault of adegraded server comprises: providing order status information associatedwith a replacement component order.
 11. The method of claim 10, whereinthe providing order status information associated with a replacementcomponent order comprises: providing delivery status informationassociated with the replacement component order.
 12. The method of claim5, wherein the providing a user-assistance according to a selection of afault of a degraded server comprises: illuminating one or more LEDindicators associated with a selected fault.
 13. The method of claim 12,wherein the illuminating one or more LED indicators associated with aselected fault further comprises: illuminating one or more LEDindicators associated with a selected fault according to a user-selectedLED illumination configuration.
 14. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: receiving a selection of a diagnostic service notificationfilter parameter.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the receiving aselection of a diagnostic service notification filter parametercomprises: receiving a hardware component-based diagnostic servicenotification filter parameter.
 16. The method of claim 14, wherein thereceiving a selection of a diagnostic service notification filterparameter comprises: receiving a server node-based diagnostic servicenotification filter parameter.
 17. The method of claim 14, wherein thereceiving a selection of a diagnostic service notification filterparameter comprises: receiving a server application-based diagnosticservice notification filter parameter.
 18. The method of claim 14,wherein the receiving a selection of a diagnostic service notificationfilter parameter comprises: receiving a server type-based diagnosticservice notification filter parameter.
 19. A method for providing serverfault notifications comprising: receiving a selection of alight-emitting diode (LED)-based directed servicing mechanism; receivinga network fault status request input; illuminating one or more LEDsassociated with one or more system components having one or more faultsaccording to the selection of the LED-based directed servicing mechanismand network fault data; and displaying one or more diagnostic servicenotifications for one or more faults of the degraded server node. 20.The method of claim 19, wherein the illuminating one or more LEDsassociated with one or more system components having one or more faultsaccording to the selection of the LED-based directed servicing mechanismand network fault data further comprises: illuminating one or more LEDsin a sequence corresponding to a path associated with locating the oneor more components having one or more faults.
 21. The method of claim19, further comprising: receiving a selection of a fault of a degradedserver node.
 22. The method of claim 19, further comprising: providing auser-assistance according to a selection of a fault of a degradedserver.
 23. The method of claim 19, further comprising: receiving aselection of a diagnostic service notification filter parameter.
 24. Asystem for providing server fault notifications, diagnostic and systemmanagement information comprising: a fault notification managementdevice including a fault notification management interface; a networkfault status indicator; and one or more server nodes, a server node ofthe one or more server nodes including: a server node fault statusindicator, a server node fault controller configured to broadcast one ormore server node fault notifications to the fault notificationmanagement device.
 25. The method of claim 24, wherein the faultnotification management device comprises: a fault notificationmanagement device integrated into a server chassis.
 26. The method ofclaim 24, wherein the fault notification management device comprises: apluggable fault notification management device.
 27. The method of claim24, wherein the fault notification management device comprises: a mobilefault notification management device.
 28. The method of claim 24,wherein the server node fault status indicator comprises: a push-buttonLED server node fault status indicator.
 29. The method of claim 24,wherein the network fault status indicator comprises: a push-button LEDnetwork fault status indicator.